Red Moscow

  Chapter 430 Rescue (Part 1)

"There is no clue," Chuikov said helplessly. "Before the transfer of the headquarters, we lost contact with the headquarters of the 13th Guards Division. I sent several signal troops to Rodimtsev's headquarters. , Unfortunately, none of them are missing, I guess they died on the way."

"Comrade Commander, even if you can't get in touch with General Rodimtsev's division headquarters." Sokov continued to ask: "Then, the regiment headquarters of the 34th and 39th Guards Regiments can always be contacted?" The reason why Kov asked this was mainly because he considered that even if Rodimtsev's division headquarters was taken away by the German army and lost a unified command, the two regiments under him should continue to fight.

"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, you may not know that because the 13th Guards Division crossed the river in a hurry, they brought very little communication equipment. Except for the division headquarters and the Yelin Regiment each having a radio station, the other two regiments Combat missions are communicated by telephone or by communications soldiers." Chuikov replied: "It is precisely because they do not have a radio station that I also cannot contact them."

  Sokov thought that the reason why Rodimtsev wanted to equip the Yelin Regiment with a radio station might be because the regiment was deployed in the factory area, which was too far away from the division headquarters. If there was a radio station, it would be convenient for the two sides to keep in touch. Even if the superior intends to let the regiment break away from the division system, Rodimtsev will be informed of the news immediately.

"So, you don't have any clues at all." Sokov guessed from Chuikov's tone that the other party had no clues at all, and said in frustration, "So, can we find the 13th guard?" The commanders and fighters of the division can only try their luck."

"Yes, we can only try our luck if we can find the 13th Guards Division." Cuikov continued: "The reason why I entrust this task to you is because if any surviving Guards soldiers want to If you evacuate, you will definitely pass through the Mamayev post where you are. As long as you can find a few such soldiers, it will be very helpful for us to find Rodimtsev and the others."

"Understood, Comrade Commander, I will do my best." Although Sokov knew that the task assigned to him by Chuikov was almost an impossible task, but since it was a task assigned to him by his superiors, even if he knew it could not be completed , can only bite the bullet and say: "Try to find out the whereabouts of the 13th Guards Division in the shortest possible time."

"It is not only your brigade that was ordered to find the whereabouts of the 13th Guards Division, but also Tanasorov's 92nd Infantry Brigade." Chuikov said on the phone: "I hope you can cooperate with each other, so that we can find the guards as soon as possible." The whereabouts of the 13th Division is very helpful."

"Comrades," Sokov said to Sidolin and Belkin who were sitting in front of him after putting down the phone, "the superior has just given us a difficult task, let us find the missing 13th Guards Division as soon as possible .”

When Sokov and Chuikov were talking on the phone, Sidolin and Belkin heard some of it. At this moment, the two had almost digested the shocking news that the 13th Guards Division had disappeared. He didn't show any surprised expression. Belgin asked with a normal expression: "Comrade Brigadier, does the headquarters have any clues?"

  Sokov replied bitterly: "There are no clues."

   "Then it will be difficult." Sidolin spread his hands and said helplessly: "There are no clues, so how do we find them? It's almost as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack."

   Just when the three of them were in a dilemma, they suddenly heard a timid voice from the door: "Can I come in?"

   "It turned out to be Asia," Belkin said with a surprised expression after seeing the person standing at the door: "Are you here to find the brigade commander? Don't stand at the door, come in quickly."

   "Are you in a meeting?" Assia took two steps towards the room, stopped again, and asked tentatively, "I won't affect your work, will I?"

   "Look at what you said, Asiya, how can you affect our work." Sidolin also said with a smile: "We are all our own people, don't be too restrained, come here quickly."

   "Assia," Sokov greeted Assia to sit down, brought her another cup of hot tea, and then asked, "You came to see me, what's the matter?"

   "Comrade Brigadier," Belkin said before Assia could answer, "you and Assia chat first, and the Chief of Staff and I will go outside to find a place to smoke a cigarette."

  Sokov knew that he was lying about going out to smoke, mainly to make room for himself and Assia. He quickly waved his hand and said, "Comrade Political Commissar, I only have a few words with Assia, and it won't take too long. You don't have to leave." Then he turned to Assia and asked, "Assia, Is there anything you need?"

   "Misha, the situation is like this." Assia held the cup and replied, "Military doctor Pavlov just informed me that he is going to let me **** a group of seriously wounded to the other side."

"Yes, I know about it." Sokov nodded, and said with certainty: "Pavlov said that if the seriously wounded are kept in the tunnel, it will be detrimental to their recovery, and there may even be a large-scale accident. Therefore, I begged Commander Chuikov to help us arrange ships and send all the seriously wounded to the east bank for treatment."

"Misha, don't look at me staying in the tunnel all day long." Who knows that after hearing Sokov's understatement, Assia showed a resentful expression on her face: "But the people I contacted There are many wounded, so many news are naturally well-informed."

  Assia's words confused Sokov, and he asked puzzledly, "Assia, what news did you hear?"

"What is the transportation situation on the Volga River now? Do you think I don't know? At least two or three ferries are needed to transport the hundreds of seriously wounded in the tunnel." Assia continued: "You are so eager to send the wounded to the river. Let's go, are you worried that Mamayev Post will not be able to hold?"

"Assia, who did you hear that we are going to abandon Mamayev Post?" After hearing what Assia said, Sokov immediately asked with a straight face: "Don't you know that I once Did you say that as long as there is only one person in our brigade alive, we will definitely not hand over this place to the enemy?"

  Perhaps it was the first time Sokov spoke to Asiya in such a harsh tone that Assia's eye circles turned red. Belkin felt a little embarrassed, and hurried out to smooth things over: "Comrade Brigadier, don't get angry, I think there may be some misunderstanding."

"During this period, the number of wounded in the health team has increased dramatically," Assia explained with red eyes: "Many people have said that if the fight continues like this, our brigade will be exhausted sooner or later, so it is a good idea to abandon the Mamayev Post." Sooner or later."

  Seeing his wife, Sokov doubted that he could not hold Mamayev Post, let alone other commanders. He felt that in order to stabilize the morale of the army, he must first convince his wife: "Assia, I don't intend to hide this matter from you. The reason why the Army Command agreed to transfer so many wounded for us is because they arranged for us A daunting task. Transferring the wounded is nothing more than a quid pro quo."

   "What mission, will it be dangerous?" Just as Sokov finished speaking, Assia's question blurted out.

"There is no danger." Sokov hesitated whether to tell Asiya about the disappearance of the 13th Guards Division, but finally decided to tell her, "The army headquarters and the 13th Guards Division have lost contact. , The task assigned to us by the superior is to find them."

   "The 13th Guards Division?!" After repeating the number, Assia murmured, "This number sounds familiar, as if I've heard it somewhere."

   Before Sokov or Belkin told her more detailed information, she suddenly exclaimed: "I remembered that yesterday I heard a wounded man mention the 13th Guards Division."

"What? You heard the wounded mention the 13th Guards Division?" Sokov knew that the wounded in the tunnel health team, in addition to the commanders and fighters of the brigade, sometimes accepted some wounded from other units, and they might be lying in the health team ward now. Some of the wounded here belonged to the 13th Guards Division. He quickly grabbed Assia's arm and asked nervously, "Did he say which army he was from?"

"That man is a sergeant," Assia said slowly, "He was sent to our health team after being injured two days ago. He seems to belong to the 34th Guards Regiment, and he should belong to the 13th Guards. Teacher."

"That's right, the 34th Guards Regiment belongs to the 13th Guards Division." Seeing that the opponent was indeed a wounded member of the 13th Guards Division, Sokov quickly asked: "What else did he say? For example Say, how did he get hurt?"

"He said he belonged to the regiment's guard company," Assia recalled the information on the wounded, and her speech became fluent: "The regiment's command post was bombarded by the Germans, and the building collapsed. Everyone was buried in it. Fortunately, he was only injured by the splashing masonry and rubble, and was rescued by a passing sniper team and sent to us."

  The speaker is not interested, but the listener is interested. When Sokov heard this, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration and immediately thought of where Rodimtsev might be now. He quickly hugged Asiya, kissed her **** the forehead, and said excitedly: "Asiya, thank you. You let me know where the person I'm looking for is."

  Asiya didn't expect Sokov to kiss herself in public, she blushed immediately, and she murmured, "I didn't seem to say anything."

"It doesn't matter what you said. The important thing is that I already know where General Rodimtsev and the others are." Sokov shook Assia's hand and said to her, "Assia, are you still here?" Escort the wounded to the other side of the Volga River, go back early and prepare. When crossing the river, you must pay attention to safety, I hope you can reach your destination safely."

  After sending Asya away, Sokov said to Belkin and Sidolin: "Commander, Chief of Staff, I think I know where General Rodimtsev is?"

   "Where is it?" The two asked confusedly.

Sokov pointed to the position of the expert building on the map, and explained to the two: "As far as I know, General Rodimtsev's headquarters is located in this three-story building next to the expert building. If I'm not mistaken, the general and his command staff should still be in this building at this moment."

"Comrade Brigadier, I don't understand." Sidolin asked in confusion: "If General Rodimtsev's headquarters is still in this three-story building, why doesn't he communicate with the headquarters?" How about getting in touch?"

"If the building is still intact, the connection between the general and the army headquarters will definitely not be interrupted." Speaking of this, Sukov looked up at the two: "If the building has been bombed by enemy shells What about the collapse? The general and his command staff are trapped in the basement, do you think they can still keep in touch with the outside world?"

   "Even if the building is blown down, General Rodimtsev and the others are trapped in the basement." Belkin said a little unconvinced: "But they can still keep in touch with the outside world through the radio."

Sidolin was much more experienced than Belkin, and he had a general understanding of what was going on when he heard this, and quickly explained to Belkin: "Comrade Commissar, the radio station can be installed in the basement, but the antenna must be installed." Outdoors. If the buildings are destroyed by gunfire, that means the antennas are also destroyed. A station without an antenna is a pile of scrap metal."

After Belkin figured out why Rodimtsev had a radio station but couldn't get in touch with the headquarters, he continued to ask: "Even if the division headquarters of the 13th Guards Division is buried in the ruins, how can they What about the troops? Can’t they all be buried in the ruins too?”

"Comrade Political Commissar, you just heard from Asiya that the regimental command post of the 34th Guards Regiment was razed to the ground by German artillery fire." Having said this, Sokov paused for a moment to observe Belkin's actions. Seeing that the other party nodded in affirmation, he went on to say, "Since the regiment command post of the 34th regiment was destroyed by enemy artillery fire, the 42nd Guards regiment may also suffer the same fate. Losing the unit of unified command, It will inevitably fall into chaos, maybe they are fighting in various areas of the city at this moment, temporarily unable to communicate with their superiors, so the Army Command will mistakenly believe that this force has disappeared from the city of Stalingrad."

   "Comrade Brigadier, what should we do now?" Sidolin looked at Sokov and asked, "Do we need to report this to Commander Chuikov immediately?"

"Don't worry, Comrade Chief of Staff." Seeing that Sidolin was anxious to report the matter to the Army Group Command, Sokov hurriedly stopped him, "What we are talking about is just our own analysis. Whether General Husband’s headquarters is still in its original location is still unknown. Therefore, we cannot report the matter casually until it is confirmed.”

"Understood, Comrade Brigadier." After Sidolin understood what Sukov meant, he nodded and said, "I will immediately call the commander of the third battalion and ask him to send a company to search near the expert building to see if he can No whereabouts of General Rodimtsev have been found."

  (end of this chapter)